Health care workers protest lack of protective gear

HARTFORD — Health care workers rallied Saturday in New London to protest what they called a shortage of personal protective equipment and pay tribute to a nurse’s aide who died earlier this month after contracting the coronavirus.

Gov. Ned Lamont, Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz and U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Conn., joined workers for Lawrence + Memorial Hospital and the Visiting Nurses Association of Southeastern Connecticut for the rally.

Union leaders said nurses, aides and other health care workers are risking their lives caring for COVID-19 patients while lacking sufficient protective gear such as masks and gowns to keep them safe.

“Our #HealthcareHeroes are fighting 24 hours a day to save lives, all while putting their own lives at risk,” Courtney said in a Twitter posting. “Losing even just one of these workers due to improper protections cannot be tolerated. Congress must act to ensure OSHA implements a new & enforceable safety standard.”

People at the rally also remembered Elva Graveline, a 52-year-old nurse’s aide at Lawrence + Memorial who contracted the coronavirus and died May 19. Graveline’s daughter thanked hospital workers for caring for her mother, according the AFT Connecticut labor union.

Hospital officials said in a statement Saturday that workers have not been without protective gear during the pandemic and credited staff for doing a “phenomenal job.”

As of Saturday, more than 42,000 people in Connecticut have tested positive for the coronavirus and more than 3,900 have died, including about 2,400 nursing home residents. Hospitalizations declined by 44 patients since Friday, down to a total of 533.